Control for machine tools



Feb. 24'; 1953 J. E. MAKANT ET AL CONTROL FOR MACHINE TOOLS 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Original Filed Oct. 9, 1947 my 5 H Am Mmw 0 M M ur E 2/ an ax Feb.2 4, 1953 J. E. MAKANT ETAL 2,629,163

CONTROL FOR MACHINE TOOLS Original Filed Oct. 9, 1947 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 /5 FIVE MED.

KENN A 7 7'0/P/VEY Feb. 24, 1953 J. E. MAKANT ETAL CONTROL FOR MACHINE TOOLS Original Filed Oct. 9. 1947 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Patented Feb. 24, 1 953 CONTROL FOR- MACHINE TOOLS Joseph Earle Makant and Gordon W. Smithson,

Pawtucket, and Kenneth R. Wunschel, Graniteville, R. I., assignors to Niles-Bement-Pond Company, West Hartford, Conn., a corporation of New Jersey Original application October 9, 1947, Serial No. 778,774, now Patent No. 2,594,782, dated April 29, 1952. Divided and this application November 4, 1949, Serial No. 125,578

. 9 Claims. l

The present invention relates to machine tools and more particularly to fully automatic turret lathes where one of the important considerations in such a machine is to obtain, as quickly as possible, variations in the feed of the turretslide or carriage and of the cross-slides. Such quick change feeds of machine tools has been proposed in U. S. Patent 2,357,396 wherein such variations or changes are accomplished by shifting appropriate clutches by pneumatic pressure which is electrically controlled.

The present invention has for its object the employment of pneumatic mechanism for shifting the clutches of the turret-slide and/or cross slide feed movements to change the rateof feed movements of said slides, the organization and arrangement of said pneumatic mechanism being such as to apply its clutch shifting pressures more directly and quickly to the clutches, thus eliminating many parts in the form of mechanical connections and greatly simplifying the same; and, also, to provide, as a safety feature, a novel and an improved mechanical interlocking means between the pneumatic mechanism for actuating the change-feed clutches so that only one clutch may be engaged at any one time, the arrangement being that if one feed clutch is actuated to engage its,

A further object of the invention is the pro- 2 vision of a novel mechanism for operating slidetools, carried by the turretslide, from a cam device that also actuates the turret-slide, locks and unlocks the turret and indexes the latter as well as actuates a cross-slide selector, if the latter is employed.

1 A still further object of the invention is the.

provision of a novel arrangement. for insuring a binding action of the turret locking means after each turret indexing operation.

Also, it is an important object of the invention to provide an electrical control circuit that controls the operations of the electro-pneumaticmeans from a pre-set dog drum synchronously operated from the output side of said clutches or; feed-change mechanism i of the turret-slide so that the timed relationship between the slide and the dog drum Will not be altered, saidelectrical control circuit including initiating switches and relays controlling circuits embracing said initiating switches in such a manner that the turret-slide may be placed in feeding movement or quick-motion movement alternately, or either of said movement of the slide may be stopped, and, so that when oneof the initiating switches is operated, it takes command of the control circuits irrespective of whether a previously operated initiating switch has been released from its initiating position.

The above broadly states the objects sought to be attained by the present invention but other objects and novel features of the invention will be apparent as the description of the invention proceeds.

This application is a division of Serial No. 778,774 filed October 9, 1947, now Patent No.

2,594,782, granted April 29, 1952.

In the drawings which show the preferred embodiment of the invention as applied to one form of machine tool and as at present devised:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of an automatic turret lathe looking toward the front of the machine and equipped with the present invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the rear of the head-stock with the door and closure plate removed to illustrate the disposition and location of certain shafts, gears and clutches; and particularly, the disposition of the pneu-- matic mechanism for effecting change-speed and change-feed;

Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the layout of the gearing for driving the spindle and turret-slide and the disposition of the clutches for automatically changing the spindle speed and the feed movements of the turret-slide as well as the electro-pneumatic mechanism for operating said clutches;

Fig. l is a central longitudinal sectional View taken vertically through the turret slide.

Fig. 5 is a plane view of the turret-slide taken similar to Fig. 6 showing the slide tool actuator being operated by the turret operating cam.

The accompanying drawings above mentioned form, by reference,

scription. w

a part of this writterrde The type of machine with which the present invention is illustrated in the drawings is an automatic turret lathe as shown in United States Letters PatentNo. 2,455,876, grantedDecember '7, 1948 but wherein the clutch shifting mechanism,

as shown in Figs. 13 to 21 inclusive of said Letters;

Patent, has been replaced by the present invention and, in addition, several other improve-.

ments in the machine, shown in saidLetters Patent, have been made in the turret locking means and in slide-tool" operating mechanism,

as will appear as this specification proceeds. It is to be understood, however, that the invention is not to be limited to the machine illustrated and described herein but may be applied to any other type of machine to Which, the,

invention is applicable.

In order that an understanding may be had of the machine illustrated in the drawings and to which the invention is applied, as one example, it, should; be stated that the machine shown. in Fig. 1 of the; drawings follows the general organizational pattern of the various instrumentalities found ,in certain types of automatic turret lathes. Such machine comprises a bed 24 at one end of whichis a headstock 29 having a horizontally disposed spindle 2| rotatably journalled therein and having disposed therein the power and variable transmission units of the machine. On the inner. end of the spindle and overlying the bed 24 is fixedly secured a.

chuck 22 in which a workpiece (not shown) may be clamped in'the usual manner. Mounted on the bed 24 for reciprocable sliding movement longitudinally of the bed and parallel to the axis/of the spindle 2| toward and away from thechuck 22 on the spindle 2|, is a turret slide,

With particular reference to Figs. 1, 2,.and 3, the headstock includes an outer casing for power plantmotors, transmission mechanism, including its. clutches, the electro-pneumatic mechanism. for, shifting the clutches, the electrical control. mechanism, as well as to provide. bearings21 and.28 for. the spindle 2| and a bearing.29 for.

the feed shaft 30.

The upper portion of the base 24 provides a.

tables-like member 24a upon which are mounted theturret-slide 23 and the cross slides-'25 and 26, the; mechanism for operating said turret-v slide, which includes the cam disc I35, shaft I54 and worm wheel being disposed re-..

spectively above and below. the table 24a and being driven by the worm I48 fast .on the, feed,

shaft so. 7

The spindle2| is driven by constant speed.

motor M connectedby a sprocket .chain .33 passing over sprocket wheel Men the motor shaft andasprocket. wheel 35 fast on the rotatable shaft 36.

Headstock Referring particularlyto Fig. 3'it will be seen there are.- two. axially aligned shafts 36 and 31 mountedin suitable. bearings in1the,head-.

stack frame; ,1 the, shaft. 36 being, what may be,,termed-,: the speed inputashaft .and'the shaft- 37 being the speed output shaft. Also journalled; 76:;

in the headstock 20 in cooperative relation and parallel with the aligned shafts 36 and 31 is a rotatable counter-shaft .38 which .has rotatably mounted upon it four clutches 3 9, 40', 4| and 42 arranged in two opposing pairs, each pair being served by a single sliding part or cone, respectively, for instance, clutch heads 39 and 40. being. served. by the clutch cone 43 and the clutch heads 4| and 42 being served by the clutch cone 44 thus, when the clutch cones 43 and 44 are engaged with any one of their clutch heads, the other clutch head of each pair is disengaged, Theclutches may be of any suitable type although, in the present showing, disc-clutches are illustrated. The sliding parts orv cones 43and44 are splined on the shaft 38 and are shifted by suitable yokes, as can be seen more particularly from Fig. 3. Each of theclutch heads 39, 40, 4| and 42 have fast therewith gears 45, 46, 41 and 48, respectively, f; i er nt zes t fiect' e: automaticchans speeds desired The gears 45. and. 46.of,c.1utch1 e ds an 0 meshrespectively. with their mating gears 49 and 58 fast on the speed input; shaft 36 while the gears 41 and 48 of clutch heads 4| and 42 mesh with their mating gears 5| and 52 fast on the speedoutput'shaft'fl.

As the above matter fully; describes thespecific spindle speed changing mechanism, further-dc; scription of this part of the machine is; not thought to be necessary,

Feed shaft drive The drive for the feed shaft 30 (whichactuates the turret-slide 23 and cross-slides 25 and 26) is connected directly with the spindle 2| so that the feed will always be in ratio per revolution of the spindle. This feed drive is taken off of; the spindle sleeve 62-, which has teeth 68 cut therein meshing with a gear 69. The gear 69 is keyed to a jack shaft 16 which has a spur gear 69a fast thereto fondriving;

' gear 1| keyed to one end of a stub shaft 12 which also has gear 13-fastthereon to drive gear 15, through the intermediate gears 14. The gear 15- is keyed to an input speed shaft 16 which is aligned with and rotatably independent of an output speed shaft 1'!- forthe feeding movements to'the turret-slide 23 andthe crossslides Hand 26.

From this inputshaft 16, various feed changes may'beobtained through the medium of-handchange gears for the tool slides as We'll as threetively, each clutch head having a matinggean 82, 84 and 86 fast thereon, respectively, which gears are of different sizes, and mesh, respectively, with a cluster gear fast tova main feed clutch head 81 rotatably mounted on the output speed shaft 11. The cluster gear comprises three.

gearmembers 86-, 89. and 98 which are incon stant mesh with gears 82, 8-4and 8-6, respectively. Also, each of said countershafts 1B, 'IBtan-d has a sliding clutch part or cone 9|, 92 and.93,- respectively, splined thereon. for reciprocating intoandout of engagementwith the clutch heads...

on said-countershafts.

Theo-utput shaft;.|'lzhasaiquicklreturncclutchu,

head94 rotatably mounted thereon and carrying with it a mating gear 95. The clutch head 94 is in opposed cooperative relation with the main feed clutch headBI so as to be served by the clutch slide or cone 96 splined on the shaft 11, whereby one of the clutch heads 81 or 94 will be engaged when the other is disengaged or both disengaged when the cone is in a neutral position. The quick return clutch head 94 is for connecting the shaft 11 with the motor I for effecting quick idle motions of the tool slides 23, 25 and 2E and, to this end, its mating gear 95 is driven from the motor I00 through appropriate gearing.

The countershafts I8, I9 and80 are driven fromt'he input shaft I6 through hand-change gears (IOI-I02, I03I04, and I05-I05 respectively) splined on the ends of said shafts so that they can be readily removed manually through a suitable opening in the casing 20 to effect various ratio combinations of speeds between the input shaft I6 and said countershafts in a manner well known in the art. With the selection of hand-change gears shown, the fine 0r first feed countershaft 78 of the feeding mechanism is driven by gears IOI and I02; the second or intermediate feed countershaft I9 is driven by gears I03 and I94; and the third or coarser feed countershaft 89 is driven by gears I05 and I09, all, as above, stated, are hand-change gears well known in the art.

' The three automatic changes of speed of feed of the tool slides are obtained in the following manner:

1. For. fine feed of movement of the tool slides andall of the clutch cones 9I, 92 and 93 being out of engagement with their respective clutch heads, the clutch cone BI is moved into clutching engagement with the clutch head 8I and cone 96 is moved into engagement with main feed clutch head 81, thus the drive being from input shaft I6 through, hand-change gears IOI, I02, shaft I8, clutch head 8|, gears 82, BIL-and main feed clutch head 01 to output shaft 11. It may be noted here that the clutch cone 9 6 is in engagement with the main feed clutch head 8! during all feeding operations and is only moved out of engagement therewith when it is desired to effect the quick idle movements of thetool slides or when the feed mechanism is hand operated for settingup or the machine stopped;

2." For thesecondor intermediate feed of the tool slides, and cones 9I and 93 being disengaged from their respective clutch heads, the cone 92 is moved in engagement with clutch head 03, thus the drive being from input speed shaft I9,

head 81 to output shaft 11; and

3. For the third or coarse feed of tool slides and with the clutch cones I0 and I'9disengaged from their respective clutch heads, clutch cone only'on'e'o'r the three feed clutches to be engaged through hand-change gears I03, I04, shaft I9, clutch head 83, gears 8-4, 39, and main feed clutch ment, this being a safety feature which permits at one time while the other clutch heads and their mating gears run idle on their respective shafts. Also, the eountershafts I8, I9 and are rotated continuously from the input shaft I6 through their aforesaid respective hand-change gears while the machine is in operation.

The fast motion of the tool slides 23, 24 and 25 (that is, their idle motion from the time that any tool when in operation has finished cutting and is brought back to clear the subject being machined, the turret indexed, and then moved forward to bring the next set of tool-s to the subfeet) is obtained by means of the fast motion motor I00 through sprocket chain 91 trained over pinion-s on motor shaft and shaft 98a to drive meshing idler gears 98 and 99, which latter meshes with mating gear 95 of fast motion clutch head 94. The motor I00 runs at constant speed continually during the operation of the machine and when the fast motion clutch head 94 is engaged automatically by clutch cone 99, thereby disengaging the main feed clutch 81, fast motion is imparted to output shaft 11. When the tools of the turret-slide 23 and/or the cross slides 25 and 26 are again in position for cutting operations on the work-subject, the quick re turn clutch 94 is disengaged and the main feed clutch 8! is engaged by the cone 96 whereby shaft 11 is again brought to feedin motion. When fast motion is in operation, cluster gear 98- 8990 runs idle on shaft I1 and shaft 1 6 runs idle in the end of shaft 11, as shown at point I-Sa.

From output shaft 11, feed or fast motion" is transmitted to the feed shaft 30 (which operates turret-slide 23 and cross-slides 25 and 26) through gear I0'I fast on shaft 11 and meshing with gear I I I keyed on feed shaft 30.

Tool slides As above stated, all movements of the main or turret-slide 23 and of the cross-slides 25 and 29 are actuated from asingle disc-cam I35 driven from the feed shaft 30 having worm I48 fast thereon and meshing with worm gear I51 fast on the arbor I54 of said disc-cam, which latter also unlocks the turret, indexes the turret I65, if one is employed, actuates a cross-slide preselector device S that renders effective and ineffective the connection for operating the crossslides 25 and 26 from the movement of the main or turret-slide 23 (see Figures 1, 3 and 4), all as more particularly shown and described in the copending application above mentioned.

The present invention, however, embodies the improvements, over the disclosures in the aforesaid Letters Patent, namely, (1) for positively forcing the turret lock-bolt II5 back to locking position to effect an accurate indexed position of turret and positive binding looking or clamping of the turret in indexed position, which has a marked effect on the accuracy of the work produced by the machine; and (2) a-slide-tool operating device-all actuated from the same disc-cam I35 in addition to its other function as mentioned in the preceding paragraph.

The main or turret slide 23 is of a hollow fiat box-like formation with a relatively wide central longitudinal slot 23* on its bottom side. The marginal edge portions of the slot 22 are offset to form channels slidably resting upon trackways I36 and I3I upon which the slide 23 is reciprocated to and fro with respect to the chuck 22 by the horizontally disposed disc-cam I35 positioned within the slide 23 and. above theways 7 .I351 and "I31. The-cam I35 isj'provided withya substantiallyheart-shaped box-cam groove I35 onits upperasurfacezand a-cam roll or follower I41, carried on the under face of the top wall of the slide, 23, extends into said cam groove I35, the. cam I35 rotating in the direction of the arrowshown inFig. 5.

The disc-cam I 35 makes one revolution for each full reciprocatory movement of the slide 23-i. .e., from its rear starting point, (when the turret I65:is indexed) forward toward the chuck 22 and back to its starting point. The slide .23 .is shownin Figs. 1, 4 and 5 in its rear or, starting pointposition and just after the turret has'been indexed and locked into position by the 1 wedge-lock-bolt I 15.

The turret I65 has vertically disposed polygonal. tool-carrying faces and has a depending hub I12. rotatably mounted about a vertical axis in the. forward end of the main slide 23, the tool-carrying faces extending above the. slide 23 .to 'opposethe chuck 22. Applied to the lower end of the hub I12 is an index and lock discplate I14, in the form of an annulus, secured by bolts 114a. The undersurface of the discplate. I14 is provided with a plurality of grooves I16, one for each face of the turret and arranged in a somewhat radially offset, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 4, to receive an indexing pin I30 on'the disc-cam I35-after the manner of .a Geneva-movement-for indexing the turret. Theupper surface of the disc-plate I14 is reduced in diameter to. provide a circular groove I18 underlying thehub I12 and with the perimental surfaces of the reduced portion formed polygonally, as at I19, to correspond with the'number of and the position of ,the turret faces. The polygonal surfaces I19 are upwardly and inwardly inclined to be engaged by a corresponding surface on the wedge-lock-bolt I15.

The wedge-lock-bolt I15 is supported in a horizontally slotted or bifurcated front face IBI of the guide-block I 53 with the bottom wall or crotch of the slot oblique, as indicated in Fig. 5 of the drawings, to provide a wedge slot so that the wedge-bolt I15 slides into such slot longitudinally thereof and transversely of the machine and underthe action of a biasing spring IHB to locking position its straight chamfered forward edge will bear against. the ,complemental' chamferedsurface I19 on the disc-plate I1 3, the opposite. edge of wedge-bolt I15 being formed .complemental to, thebottom wall of the wedge slot I8I.

Ata point in the rearward returnmovement of slide 23 and before itreaches its rearmost position, the disc-cam I35 moves plate-cam I82,

mounted on its upper surface, into engagement with roller I83 carried by lever 584 to swing the lever I34 counter-clockwise with respect to Fig. 5,. thus withdrawing, the wedge-lock-bolt I15 against the tensionof the spring I90 to release the turret I65 for indexing. The lever I84 has one end .fulcrumed. at I85 to a rear portion of the slide and its other end formed with a radius extremity I81 extending into a correspondingly forward slot I88 at oneend of the back bolt I15.

When the bolt has been so withdrawn the indexing pin I80 will have been moved to enter one-of the indexing grooves I18, which groove has been brought to position to receive the indexing pin I80 by a previous indexing of the turret. .Having entered the groove and continued in its movement with cam-disc I35,the .pin I8Ilhas. indexed the turret, I65 one position or'face and is shown in Fig. 5, asnow leaving'said roove.

During this indexing of the. turret I65,, the cut-out portion I89 of the guide .block I63 and the cut-out portion I89a of the wedge-lock-bolt received complemental portions of said lock-bolt and guide block, respectively, thus providing suflicient clearance to allow indexing of said turret.

After the indexing pin I80 .has substantially completed the indexing of the turret, the dwell I821; on the platecam I82 releases the. arm I84 to allow the biasing springI 90 to draw the wedgelock-bolt I15 and snapit into the position shown in Fig. 5 where it wedges itself between the oblique bottom surface of slot I8I and the opposing chamfered surfacesl19. on-the disc-plate I14 secured to the bottom of the turret.

As before stated, an improvement of the present invention over the aforesaid copendin-g application, residesv in arrangement'of the biasing device I90 and-inmeanson the disc-cam I35 for positively wedging thewedge-lock-bOlt I15 in its turret locking and binding position after having been preliminarily brought to that position by said biasing device I90.

Tothis'end and referring to Fig. 5, the spring I53 is disposed within the slide 23 along its rear or back side and hasqone end anchored thereto by a stud I94 while, its other end, adjacent the wedge-lock-bolt I15, is connected to, one end of a bell-crank lever I96 of a compensating toggle. The other end of the bell-crank lever I96 is pivioted to the wedge-lock-bolt I15, as at I91, by a link I95. The compensating toggle further comprises a link Itta pivotally connected tointermediate elbow portion of the bell crank, lever I55 and pivotally supported my a pin or bolt I961) fixed on the under surface of the top-wall f the slide 23. This compensating toggle, biased by the sprin I50, produces a very effective snap action on the wedge-lock-bolt I15 in returning it to lock position. Under certain machine operating conditions, the action of the spring I alo-neisinadequate to accomplish both the accurate location and bindingof the turret 5*55. Toovercome this situation the intermediate arm I83a on lever I84 and whichcarries the cam roller I83, is extended laterally across the disc-cam I35 to. have its free endlie on theother side of the axis I53 or said disc-cam 35. This free end of the arm I33a carries a cam roll I83?) which isengaged by a lug-cam I830, adjustably secured, to. the top surface of the disc-cam I35, after the spring I90 has returned the wedge I 15 to its turret locating and binding .positionand thus exerts a pressure on the lever I84, which tends to move it ina clockwise direction in Fig. 5 and causes its radius extremity I81 to exert a squeezing action on the wedge-lock-Ibolt I15 to positively seat the latter and accurately locate and bind the turret l 55. in position.

At or about the sametime the turret IE5 is indexed, a, pin 2% on the disc-cam I 35 enters in one f a plurality of radial indexing grooves239 in the undersurface of an indexible wheel 235 of a cross-slide selector S, which may be rendered effective, accordin to themanner the selector has been set-up for a particular production operation, any one or both, or neither, of the cross-slides 25. and 26, as is'fully shown and described in said copending application. It will suffice to say that latch members 230,. controlled by the selector S, engage or disengage keepers r on push-rods 205 which actuate said cross-slides from .the to-and-fro movementof' the turret.-

Fig. 5.)

slide 23. Also, upon each revolution of the selector S, a lug 344 on the disc 235 oscillates a the turret face are about to contact the workpiece (not shown) held by the chuck. At this time a dog I22 on dog drum I2I, acting through means later to be described, shifts clutch cone 96 disengaging quick motion clutch 94 and engaging main feed clutch 81, thus actuating the slide 23 of slow cutting feed movement until that cutting operation has been performed. It is, of course, understood that the cycle of operation of the machine is governed by the number of faces of the turret I65 or by the number of such faces as may be employed for any operation upon a workpiece according to the set-up of the machine, for instance, the machine may be equipped with a skip face mechanism not shown. C011. sequently, at the end of each forward feeding motion of the turret slide 23, when the slide follower I41 is in the dwell portion (vv) of the cam-groove I351; of disccam I35, a vertically movable slide-tool actuator T is operated, which is mounted on the forward end of the turret-slide 23. I The mechanism for operating this actuator T is another improvement of this invention. j

A slide-tool actuatorT employed on most of the automatic chucking-turret-lathes consists of a slidably mounted bar having a notched upper end t which interengages with a similar or com- .plemental notch member t of the slide-tool device I 55c secured to any selected face of the turret I65. Therefore, any face of the turret I65 carrying such a slide tool and when indexed to operative position, the member t of the slidetool will interengage with the end t of the actuator T. These slide tools are usually employed for grooving and internal recessing on the workpiece. Vertical movement is imparted to the slide-tool actuator T by a bar 400 disposed within the slide 23 below the disc-cam I35 and extending longitudinally of the turret-slide I23 between the axis I53 of said disc-cam I35 and the way I31. The rear end of the bar 400 is reduced and slidably mounted at 40I in a bearing formed on the turret-slide 23. The forward end of the mesh with an elongated pinion 404 whose axis is .journ-aled in bearings on the turret-slide as at 405. The actuator T is also formed with rack teeth 406 which mesh with pinion 404. (See Disposed adjacent the rear end portion of the rod 400 and on the top surface thereof is a flat elongated abutment plate 401 pivoted intermediate its length to said bar on a vertically disposed pin 408 fast in said bar. The forward end 409 of the latch member 401 may be beveled, as shown, to be engaged by a pin 4I0 depending from the underside of the disc-cam I35 to shift the bar 400 rearwardly, which motion is transmitted by the pinion 404 to the slide-tool actuator T to move the same vertically and, thus, actuate the slide-tool. The abutment plate 401 is formed at a, rear corner portion with a depending lug 4 which abuts the adjacent tide ofthe bar 400-to prevent swingingmovement of the abutment plate 401 when it is engaged by the pin M0 in the manner just described, the abutment plate 401 being normally biased to the position shown in Fig. 4 by a spring 4I2 having one end connected with the lug 4H and the other end anchored to the bar 400.

The bar 400 is returned to its position shown in Fig. 4 by a pin 4I3 projecting from the underside of the disc-cam I35 and which pin will engage the free end of the bell crank lever 4I4' pivoted at M5 to an extension projecting from the sump wall of the pump 346. The other end of the lever 4I4 extends between confining shoulder formed by a recess M5 in the bar 400. When the free end of the bellcrank lever 4| 4 is contacted by the pin 4I3, it will rotate the bell crank lever on the pivot 415 in a counter-clockwise position and return the bar 400 to its full line position shown in Fig. 4, and thusmove the slide-tool actuator T downwardly to its original or starting position.

When viewing Fig. 5, it may not be readily apparent that the pin 4I0 would ever contact the latch member 408 or the pin 4I3 would ever con tact the lever 4I4. In this connection it must be realized that the axis I53 of th disc-cam I35 is fixed in relation to the longitudinal movement of the turret-slide 23 which carries the bar 400. By referring to Fig. 6 it will be observed that, before the cam follower I41'approa-ches the dwell in the cam groove I35, pin 4I3 passes in forward end 409 of the abutment plate 401; but just as cam follower I41 enters the cam dwell at u (see Fig. '1) the turret-slide 23 is then in its position nearest the chuck 22 and pin 4) will contact the end surface 409 of the abutment plate 401 and push the bar 400 rearwardly for a distance and for a duration sufficient to effect the operation of the slide too1 actuator I. By further refer ence to Fig. 7, it will be observed that, when the bar 450 has been pushed rearwardly to the limit of its distance by the pin 4I0, it will assume a position indicated in dotted lines and the free end of the lever 4I4 will have been swung into the path of the pin 4I3 and will be contacted by pin 4I3, after pin 4! passes by the abutment plate 401, and thus impart a counter-clockwise motion to the lever 4I4 and return the bar 400 to its original initial position.

The abutment plate 401 is pivoted in the manner above described so that, if the machine is hand-cranked backwards that either of the pins M0 or 4I3 come in contact with the forward end of the abutment plate 401, said abutment plate will swing clockwise on its pivot 408 thereby Control mechanism From the above, it should be clear, particularly from Fig. 3, that by clutch cones 43 and 44 selectively engaging their respective clutch heads 33-40 and 4I42, four automatic speed changes of the spindle 2 I are effected, that by clutch cones 9|, 52 and 93 selectively engaging their respective clutch heads 8|, 83 and 05, three automatic changes in the feed movement are effected for cutting operations of the turret slide 23 and the cross slides 25 and 25 and that, by clutch cone 96 alternatingly engaging its clutch heads 81 and 94, movements will be transmitted to said slides andi the slides will be moved at their feeding rateor that is, power operated in both directions.

1-1 in rapidlmotion from the quick or rapid .motion motor, lot, respectivelyor, when the clutch cone SE is in intermediate or neutral position, all automatic motion is disconnected from the'said shaft 3!! andthe dog drum l2 l, and, consequently, from the tool'slides 23, 25 and 26. It will be understood thata cycle of the machine embraces an operation Where the turret-slide 23 has reciprocatedj back andiorth relative to the spindle a number of times corresponding to the number of faces, on the turret I65 or to the number of faces ihat ave been brought to indexing position for the tools thereon to perform work on a given subiect workpiece. The operation of the clutches, iustmentioned, is attained by the electropneumatic mechanism schematically shown in Fig, 3 end'morepa cu r own in t ar n m nt and organization in the present machine in Figs. Land 2.

. The eleotropneumatic mechanism, for actuat-v ing the speed-change and feed-change clutches, includes air cylinders 4m, 4m, 42s, ascend 43c disposed in-a compartment C at the rear of the headstock 20 and arranged adjacent the clutches which they actuate; and to one side of the air cylinder compartment is another compartment o in which are disposed the solenoid air-Valves forsaid cylinders, as shown in Fig. 2. An importarrt. feature of the present invention is the positioningjof the air cylinders so that their operat ng pistons are connected directly to the yoke which shifts theclutch cones, thereby elimillating he number of parts. (such as connecting partition. Each cylinder is provided with a stemmed piston ill'a and M811, respectively, the stems-or rods of said pistons being arranged substantially parallel to the axis of said clutches 38 and ll-42; lhe cylinders 4||M8 are preferably arranged so that their respective piston rods extend from them in opposite directions and. disposed adjacent the clutch cones G3 and 44, respectively, the endsv of the piston rods b i .n vo a ly onnecte es c i l o h rock r arms 0 a n s a e end .th us an s i e lyi r le inr t ti n l s Alt. the othe n o s i sha s h v n te t ther on ro r rmsflit a ta ed to c u c Yoke v .424 extending in the circumferential groove in their re p c e ut h ome 3 d. 'lever 42!) is a projecting lug 425 which moves On e ch between adjustable abutments 426 and 42'! so that the movement'of the clutch cone may be nicely adj listed.

Both cylinders M1 and 4 l8 are connected with an air pressure source at their opposite ends so as to render the pistons therein double acting Thus, one end of the cylinder 4|? is connected by the air line B to the solenoid air valve B so that the piston Alla may be moved to operate the cone 43 'to engage the clutch 39 and disengage said cone be movedto operate the cone &3 to engage clutch and-disengage clutch 39 (see Fig. 3).

Cylin- 12 der M8 is connected'by air lineD to solenoidair valve-D to move piston4|8a to operate cone. to engage clutch 4| and disengage clutch 42, while the other end ofcylinder M8 is connected by airline E to solenoid air valve E to move its piston HBa to operate clutch cone 44 to engage clutch 42 and to disengage clutch 41 (see Fig. 3'). The solenoids of these air valves B, C, C, and E are energized respectively by the single-pole snap-switches B, C, D, and E which are closed by appropriate dogs I22 adjustably mounted, as

required for a desired operationof machine, on

thedog drum |2| to efie'ct'thefour speed-changes which have been described above. 7

As can be Seen from Fig. 3 and the disposition of the shafts in Fig. 2, the gears 82; B4. and 86, Which are driven by the clutches 8|, 83 and 85 respectively, are grouped about the cluster gear (-88-899B) fast with the main feed clutch 8-1.

The feed gears 82, 84 and86 and the respective clutchestl, 8'3 and 85, are shown inFig, 2 together with their clutch cones 9|, 92 and 93 (al though for the purpose of clarity, the mainfeed clutch 8'! and its cluster gear is not shown in Fig. 2;) The clutch cones 9|, 92 and 93 areactuated to engage their clutches by air actuated pistons 428a, 429a and 43%, mounted, respec tively, in air cylinders 428, 429 and 430 pivotally mounted at one of their ends, at 43!, teen end wall of the headstockcasing 2B so-as to permit slight movement of the cylinders to compensate for operational movements of their pistons. Ihe rods of pistons 428a, 429a and 430a extend from the-other end of their-cylinders and in the same general direction as the shafts 78, Hand tflupon which the clutch cones 9|, 92 and 93 -are splined and each piston. rod is operatively connected with one of said cones, respectively. Said connections between the piston rods 428a, 429a and 43% and their'respective cones 9|, S32 and 93, are identical andcomprise the free end of the lock piston rod being connected to rocker arms 432, 433and 434, respectively, which are fast on one end portion of shafts 428b, 4291) and 4301), respectively, and the other end of said shafts being disposed adacent their clutch cones 9|, 92- or 93 and having fast thereon a rocker arm 432a, 433a and 434a which carries a yoke Bla, 92a and 93 each extending'into a customary circumferential groove in their clutch cones. Said shafts 428b, 429D and 4301) are journaled in the vertical partition wall 41,9.

Feed-ch nge cy ind rs 428, 4 a 3 are h connected by'air pipe lines 5 K and L to their respective solenoid air valves J K'- and L" so as to be singleeacting under air pressure for engage ing their respective clutches Bl, 8321x when air is introduced into said cylinders. As shown in Fig. 2. the piston 233a has been air actuated to engage clutch cone 93 with the clutch 85 and, when air is released from the cylinder 430 by the exhausting of its solenoid air valve L, the clutch cone remains engaged with the clutch 85. When one of said clutches 8|, 83 and 85 are so engaged, the other of said clutches are disengaged by a very simple and novel arrangement of three levers 436, 437 and 438, and which arrangement is pcrmitted by the air cylinders 128, 429 and 430 and their respective pistons being disposed in spaced side-by-side' position and in substantially the same plane, as'sh'own in Figs. 2 and 3. To this end, the rods of pistons 428a, 429a and 430a are each provided with adjustable shoulder or abutment 428e, 4290 and 5380, respectively. A teeter lever 436', intermediately pivoted tothe' partition M9, extends between piston rods 428a and 429a and has its ends in the plane of movement of said shoulders 4280 and 4290 to be contacted by the latter. A similar teeter lever 43'! has its ends similarly disposed between shoulders 429c and 4300 and pistons 429a and 430a. A third teeter 438 is similarly mounted as the other two but extends between the piston rods 428a and 4311a, and

has its ends in the path of movement of abutting contact shoulders 42801 and 439d. Thus, it will be seen that if air is admitted to any one of cylinders 428, 429 or 430, the pistons of the othentwo cylinders will be moved to the right. in Fig. 2, and fully disconnect the clutches associated therewith--provided, the air pressure has been exhausted from said latter two cylinders. It will be obvious that this arrangement of levers 436, 43!

and 438 also serves as a mechanical interlock and assures against more than one clutch 8|, 83 or 85 being engaged at any one time. these feed-change air valves J, K and L are energized, respectively, by the single-pole snapswitches J, K and L which are closed by appropriate dogs I22 adjustably mounted on the doe drum l2l to effect the desired changes in the feed movement of the turret-slide 23 and cross-slides 25 and 26.

The solenoid air valves B, C, D, E, F, J, K and L are of a well-known standard three-way type that pass air pressure therethrough when the solenoid is energized and when de-energized cuts off the passage of air therethrough from the supply source and exhausts the air pressure on its outlet side. One type of such valve that is now employed comprises an elongated casing having an opening in its lower end which is threaded on a main air pressure supply line 439 'having a pressure regulator 44011, of any wellknown type, therein (Fig. 3) so as to normalize the air pressure flowing to the valves against violent fluc-tuations occurring in the air pressure system. Also, a pressure switch 440 is connected in the air supply line 439 and functions as a safety cut-out device by controlling an electric circuit, Bar-416b, that stops motors M and I to render the machin inoperative when the air pressure falls below a safe operating pressure for actuating the clutches of the machine.

The clutch cone 96, as before described, serves both the main feed clutch 81 and the fast-motion clutch 94, more clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 3, i and. is moved to its two clutching p sitions and to its neutral position by a plunger mechanism P rangement shown and described is acceptable to modification and variation. Therefore, the invention is not to be limited except by the spirit of the appended claims.

What we claim is:

1. In a machine-tool, a turret slide, an indexible turret rotatably mounted on said slide and having a plurality of faces thereon, means for indexing the turret, means for locking said turret in indexed position and including a fixed abutment on said slide adjacent the turret and a slid- The solenoids of able lock member movable into and out-of position between said abutment and an opposing surface on said turret, a spring normally biasing said lock member to locking position between said abutment and said opposing surface and. positioned remote from said lock member and exerting its force at an angle to said member, and an equalizing toggle pivot-ally mounted within the slide, one end of said spring being connected to said slide and the other end being connected. to one end of said equalizing toggle, and theother end of said toggle being connected to said lockmember.

2. The machine of claim 1 in which the equalizing toggle comprises a bell-crank lever. having one end connected to said spring and its other end pivotally connected with said lock member, and. a link pivotally connected at one end to said slide and its other end pivotally connected to the elbow portion of said lever.

3. In a machine-tool, a turret slide, an index ible turret rotatably mounted on said slide and having a plurality of faces thereon, means for indexing the turret, means for locking said turret in indexed position and including a fixed abutment on said slide adjacent the turret and a siidable lock member on said slide movable into i and out of position between said abutment and an opposing surface on said turret, a spring on said slide normally biasing said lock member to looking position between said abutment and said opposing surface, Withdrawing'means carried by said slide synchronized with the indexing means for moving the lock-member out of locking position prior to indexing, the improvement comprising a part positively actuated in timed relation with said indexing means for pushing said lock member in tight binding position between said fixed abutment and the opposing surface on said turret, after said biasing means has returned said lock member to looking position.

4. In a machine-tool, a turret slide,.an indexible turret rotatably mounted on said slide and having a plurality of tool-carrying surfaces thereon, means for indexing said turret, means for locking said turret in indexing position and including a fixed abutment on said slide adjacent said turret, a plurality of abutment surfaces on the turret corresponding in number to the indexing positions of the turret and adapted to suecessively oppose said fixed abutment on the slide,

that is actuated by air pressure to engage fastand: a slidable lock member movable into and out of position between said fixed abutmentand an opposing surface on said turret, a swingable arm pivotally mounted to saidslide and having its distal end in pivotal engagement with one end of said lockinember, an operating cam element on said slide timed to actuate said arm to withdraw said lock member from locking position,

prior-to the indexing of said turret, the improvement comprising another operating cam element on said slide positioned and timed to engage'a portion of said arm, after the indexing of said turret, and exerting a force thereon to force said lock member into tight binding relation between said fixed abutment and an opposing face upon said turret, whereby the turret is accurately located and clamped in. position.

5. In a machine-tool, a turret slide, an indexible turret rotatably mounted on said slide and having a plurality of tool-carrying surfaces thereon, means for indexing said turret, means for locking said turret in indexing position and including a fixed abutment on said slide adjacent said turret, a plurality of abutment surfaces on 11 s thesturret:correspondinglin numberto theoindex- -ing positions of the :turret and adapted to sucicessive'ly opposesaid fixed abutment son the slide, :and apslidable lock membermounted 'in-the slide and movable into and out of .position between saidxfixed abutment and an opposingsurface ion isaid turretiand normally biased to bemoved to docking position, "a .swingable arm pivotally amounteditosaid slide and having its'distal'end in pivotal'engagem'ent with oneend of said lock member, an -operating cam element on said slide timed to aCtuatesaid-arm to withdraw said loci: member from locking position and against its bias, prior to the indexing of \said turret, and

ftoxreleasesaid arm to the influence of its bias :afterssaid indexing; the improvement comprising another operating cam 61611181113011 said slide positionedzand timedto: engage aportion ofsaidarm after the indexing of said turret and I exerting a force thereon to force said ,lock member into 1 tight bindingrelation betweensaid fixed abutrment :and an opposing face upon said turret, whereby the turret is accurately located and Lment andan opposingsurfaceon said turret, a

disc-cam .on said slide for reciprocating said ;'slide *and for indexing said turret, a swingable arm pivotally mounted to said slide and having its'distal end in pivotal engagement with one :en'd of ESELid lock member,a cam element onsaid disc-cam for actuating said arm to withdraw 'saidllockmember fromlockingposition, prior to the indexing of said turret, the improvement comprising another cam element on said disc-cam -;positioned to engage a portion of said arm,'after the-indexing of said turret and exerting a force thereon to force said lock member into tight binding relation between said fixed abutment and nan-opposing face upon saidturret, whereby the turret is accurately .located and clamped in :position.

7 In a machine-tool, .a reciprocal slide or car- :riage,;a member for reciprocating said. slide andihaving zaidwell portion that retains the slide onezposition while said cam is still operating, 'arslide-rtool :actuator for operating a slide-tool "mountable .011 'saidtslid'e, the improvement com- :prising,the slide tool actuator including a'recipyrocable'part :carried bysaid slide, a swingable =abutment :onsaid part and limited in its movement in'one direction and biased'to the limit of ".said movement, abutment-engaging means on said 'cam'toengage said abutment when said cam is ainits dwell to move-said reciprocating part :of :said slide-tool actuator in one direction for rendering said slide-tool effective, a re-setting member movable by said reciprocal part when theb-slide-tool .is renderedLeiTectiVe, said resetting ,member to be engaged .by a second abutment- ,engagingmeans on thecam to movesaidslidetool reciprocal part in its other direction, ,thus returning said slide-tool to its inefiectiveposi- 'tion.

8. Ina'machine-tooLa reciprocal slide'orlcar- V .riage, a cam member for reciprocating saidslide and having a .dwell portion that retainsV-theslide in-one position while said cam isstill operating, a slide-tool actuator for operating .aslide-tool mountable .on said slide, the improvement com-- Eprising the slide-tool actuator including areciprocable part carried by the turret-slide, a ,swingable abutmentonsaid part and limited in its movement in one direction andbiased to the limit of saidmovement, an abutment-engaging element on saidcam to engage said abutment in its biased position, when ,saidsslide is .:in its dwell to move .saidreciprocal part .of saidslidetool actuator in one direction andrendering said slide-tool effective, and .a lever pivoted .to .said slide and connected with said reciprocablepart of the slide tool actuator and movable by the latter when said slide-toolis rendered :efiective,

to aposition to be engaged bya second abutmentengagingelement on said cam and-movingsaid slide-tool reciprocal part in its other direction, thus returning said slide-tool to its ineffective position.

9. In a machine-tool, a turret slide, :anindexible turretlrotatably mounted on said slide, a cam member for reciprocatingsaid slideandfor indexing said turret and having a dwell .portion that retains the slide in its forwardmost position while said cam is still operating, aslide-tool actuator for operating aslide-toolmountable on said turret, the improvement comprising the slide-tool actuator including a reciprocable rod carried by the turret slide, a swingable abutment pivoted on saidrod. and (limited .in.its.movement intone direction andbiased .to the limit oflsaid movement, an abutment-engaging element on said cam to engage said abutment in its biased position, when said slide is in itsforwardmost position and said cam is inits dwell, moving said rod in one direction, to render said slide-tool effective, and a lever .pivoted intermediate its end to said slide and having'one end connected with said rod and the other end being movable by said rod, when said slide-tool is rendered effective, to a position to he engaged by a .second .abutment-engaging element, for .moving said rod in .its other direction, thus returning saidslide-tool toits'inefiective position, all while the camis in its dwell.

J. EARLEVMAK'ANT.

GORDON W. SMITHSON.

KENNETH R. WUNSCHEL.

REFERENCES CITED The following referencesare of record in the file of thisv patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 870,499' English 'Nov. 5, 190.7 1,511,447 Drissner Oct. 14, 1924 2,455,876 Potter etal Dec.7,I948 2,571,288 Potter et a1 Oct. 16,1951 

